Headmaster
by Clement Rage
Summary: Headmaster Cid made what I consider to be some bizarre decisions during the game. So I decided to explain them.
1. Chapter 1

_Hi, folks. Don't own FF8. _

_It occurred to me that Headmaster Cid made some bizarre decisions during the game in order to advance the plot. So I decided to explain them. First up, the decision to send the three newest, most inexperienced Seeds to assassinate Deling._

**New Seeds**

He'd been cornered. He'd been had. Almasy had snuck the girl in, and she had asked for his help in front of a dozen important investors. Refusing contracts was bad for business.

Apparently, she wanted to find President Deling, and...persuade him to liberate Timber. The mission was suicide for everyone involved. This girl had about the same chance of getting close to Deling as Cid had of spontaneously turning into a giraffe. But, he couldn't turn her down.

But he couldn't let her assassinate Deling either –presumably she could not be idiotic enough to let him go. Responses to Galbadian military aggression made up two thirds of Seed's Contracts. If Deling was replaced by a leader with fewer imperialistic designs, that income would dry up, and Seed would in all probability dissolve. And it had to survive, to face the next sorceress. There were rumours that there was a sorceress hiding somewhere on Deling's staff, and Seed was _needed. _He couldn't let them dissolve. That required a sacrifice.

He had to accept the contract, knowing they would fail. This had happened before. He'd known, as had Edea, when they'd created Seed, that times would come when sacrifices would be necessary to ensure the organisations survival –that appalling, often used justification that the means justifies the end. It rang hollow, as often as not.

He'd promised himself, then, that he would not take such decisions lightly. Sacrifices should be remembered, valued. As such, he'd sworn that, whenever he let Seeds go to certain death, that he would feel the loss, that he, _personally, _would regret the decisions, and as such, would not take them lightly. When a sacrifice was made, it was Cid's children who suffered. It was too easy to consign a random underling, but when he had to send little Quistis, who had tugged at his leg when she found some interesting crab or starfish long years ago, who he'd watched grow from childhood, then the sacrifices _hurt. _He wouldn't have it any other way.

He was too weak, however, to sacrifice all his children to the void. Too weak. He'd done what he could to spare some of them, but fate would not let him free so easily. He'd had Dincht adopted, expressly to put him beyond his reach. How he'd felt Hyne laughing at him when his new mother had sent her son right back to Garden to be educated. Tilmitt had been sent to Trabia, where she'd excelled, but when she'd applied for a transfer, he had been unable to find a valid reason to refuse. He'd been terrified, once she arrived, that she would have memories linking his children, but a mishap with a GF in her youth saved him. Hyne's intervention again, perhaps? There was another child, Kinneas, who thus far stayed beyond him, currently a sniper resident in Galbadia. Trepe was ludicrously talented, and had come back from the dead twice, after which point he'd felt unable to keep sending her into the void, and granted her an instructor's license to keep her away from the field. She was good at that, too, but she'd gotten the license in somewhat suspicious circumstances, and NORG had recently had it repealed. Seifer by rights had passed his field exam, but Cid had failed him, attempting to keep one more of his children alive. This later backfired spectacularly. But Seeds were always in danger. Another attempt to save his children, which would probably ultimately be futile. Trepe may have come back from the dead, but there were two others of his children whom he had sent to cold and lonely graves elsewhere, forgotten now by all but Cid due to the influences of the GFs. And now here he was, sending Tilmitt, Dincht, and Leonhart to join them.

It was not, of course, official Garden policy, to send their three most inexperienced new recruits to either persuade over tea and buns, kidnap, or assassinate a government leader shrouded in bodyguards. The board objected vociferously, especially NORG. He didn't like to see cadets wasted, and he knew about Cid's connections, probably also had an idea of his reasoning. He could see the reasoning behind it, but justifiably viewed Cid a 'CALLOUS BASTARD' as he so succinctly put it.

So, here he was, sending his children to die yet again. There were two twists to the tale, however. The girl had been unable to understand the contract he'd given her, so he'd handwritten a second one with a few changes, the most notable being that Dincht, Leonhart, and Tilmitt were supplied to her _until the liberation of Timber!_ Even if Deling died, the odds of Galbadia withdrawing from Timber anytime in the next fifteen years or so was pretty long. Should they survive, they'd be forever beyond his reach.

The cursed lamp with the GF inside was another little trick he was proud of. Edea had given him that, once upon a time, to protect him. His memories were too valuable for him to use GFs himself, but that lamp provided him with a loophole, as it smashed at the feet of any attacker. To the Galbadians, it would be a curiosity, but any sorceress would recognise it instantly. If there was really a sorceress among Deling's staff, finding this lamp in the possession of his failed assassins would draw her out. And when she cast aside her veils...Seed would stand ready.

_Well, that's one gambit that died before it began, _he noted, watching the lamp skitter away from Squall's grip and shatter, enveloping him, Zell, and Selphie in impenetrable black smoke.


	2. Chapter 2

**Baby Faced Assassins**

And so he'd sent his children to die. But they hadn't. The Resistance movement had fallen for a decoy, failing to get anywhere near Deling. Leonhart, Tilmitt and Dincht had come back from the dead. And all his plans were dust, shredded by a quirk of fate.

Almasy had somehow discovered that he'd sent the newly inaugurated Seeds on a suicide mission, and he had gone berserk. Exactly why his reaction was so extreme was unclear. Was he linked romantically with that girl? Or were his forgotten memories of the orphanage in Centra prodding at his subconscious? Or perhaps he was even fond of his 'rival', Squall, a charade Cid had always found quite amusing. He'd deliberately trained them both with the gunblade, to ensure it would continue.

Well, regardless of his reasoning, the result was the same. The debacle in the TV station. Holding Deling hostage. Dincht's little 'slip'. Cid had to admit, Deling was no coward, negotiating with his captors even with a blade to his throat. He'd been a soldier, back in the day. And then...the appearance of Edea. He'd know her voice anywhere. So...Deling was appointing her an ambassador. For world peace? Hardly. Esthar was still recovering from the ravages of their own sorceress, and the Galbadian public would as soon see her hanged as in government. The only thing that would come of this would be war and chaos. Thus, Cid was confronted with a fate he'd long avoided even thinking about. Edea would have to die.

And he was forced to hear Hyne's laughter again, when he received a correspondence from Martine. Trepe and the team he'd sent to kill Deling had retreated to Galbadia Garden after the TV station incident. No one knew they were there, and that girl from the resistance had not realised she could invoke the clause on the contract he'd given her. Edea had let it be known that she intended to usurp Galbadia garden and use it as a future base of operations, and Martine had reached the same conclusion as Cid, though for less altruistic reasons. And he wanted Cid's authorisation to use his Seeds to kill her, so that he could not be culpable if they were caught. Balamb Seeds would be less easily traced.

_Thunk. _The 'Approved' stamp stabbed at his soul as it crashed down on the contract, a lead weight crushing his children. Not that the contract said 'Approved by Cid, Headmaster, Balamb garden.' Only a complete idiot would sign their name on a death warrant for a government official. The one he'd given to that girl (the comprehensible one) neatly offloaded all responsibility for the Seed's actions on her. If Headmaster Cid was anything, he was careful.

Bizarrely, one thing had worked in his favour. Caraway, a highly respected General in the Galbadian army, had made overtures through complex, untraceable channels directly asking for the sorceress' assassination. A veteran from the sorceress war, he remembered exactly what an unchained sorceress was capable of, and would sooner see himself crucified that allow another free rein in his country. So, Cid would even make a profit on this adventure. Caraway even had a plan, and Cid admitted it was quite workable, the General being well known for his analytical mind. There was a possibility they could succeed, inexperienced though they were. Whether they could succeed undiscovered was a different matter.

Galbadia had accepted, largely due to the frustration evident in Trepe's face in the broadcast, that Seifer's little show was an independent action. They hadn't realised that Seifer had just gotten there before the 'official' assassins could. However, a second assassination, on the heels of the second, was probably stretching credibility. Caraway was willing to die if he was able to book a ticket for Edea in the process, and Cid had now decided to suggest a direct assault if the initial sally failed. He knew a direct attack couldn't work. He was counting on it.

Throughout Seed's existence, traceability was always of paramount importance. Until Dincht's slip, there was never concrete evidence that Balamb were behind Seed. Inevitably, there was a hell of a lot of circumstantial evidence, but nothing concrete, nothing that would justify a massive military campaign against Balamb. And the fact remained that Balamb Garden was a _school._ The Galbadian public would never sanction an attack on _schoolchildren _unless they were absolutely certain that they were attacking the right place, and Deling was dependent on their good opinion. Edea, however, was not, and she would recognise her children instantly. Her, but only her. That was crucial. She would _know _he was behind that game, and she would come for him. The Galbadian soldiers would balk upon being asked to kill children for reasons they couldn't understand, and she would have to drive them before her, coming personally to see that they obeyed. No General would obey that order without her by his side to prevent mutiny. Caraway would spit in her eye first, as would most of the others, and even Deling would hesitate if faced with damning public opinion. She would come, driving an army before her, and here, on his territory...he'd bring her down. The army would simply not have the heart to carry out her orders with any efficiency, and she would have to join the battle personally. And then, with the help of a magic dampening field, she was his for the taking.

He was despicable, he knew. Gambling the lives of children on a mere chance of success. But that had never stopped him before, and he would not allow himself to weaken now. Not when the world was on his shoulders.


	3. Chapter 3

**NORG**

Yet again, however, he'd made one, huge, ludicrous flaw-he'd forgotten about the Galbadian missile base, trusting to the famed Galbadian military integrity to keep him safe. This had been greatly eroded by Edea. NORG had, understandably, gone completely berserk when he'd discovered what Cid had done, but by then, he was too late to affect the scenario as it panned out. Official Garden policy was to await the approval of the full board for any Seed mission which would involve a senior government official, but Cid had ignored this when he had ordered Edea eliminated. Perversely, the attempted assassination had actually strengthened her. She'd showcased her power while the Galbadian soldiers waited for orders that never came, showing her audience that she was a force to be reckoned with. She also had shown that supposed foreign powers feared her, and that her strength could make Galbadia powerful. Many of the soldiers were either veterans or the children of veterans of the Sorceress War, and they'd seen what a sorceress could do. She'd masterfully directed them towards the one institution the G-Army hated more than sorceresses –those soulless, amnesiac child mercenaries of Seed. And soon, ICBMs were winging their way towards Balamb and Trabia.

_Why, O why Zell, did you not say 'Balamb' in the TV station?_

Aware of Cid's connection with Edea, NORG had believed him a lovesick fool, and rallied the faculty. He had a completely valid point, but before Cid could come to terms with his situation some of the students had rallied to his support, and were spilling each other's blood. He would not easily forget it. But he would try.

_Cid sat in his office, listening to the clash of steel throughout Garden. It was drawing closer. As he listened, he heard running feet and drawn steel outside. Something heavy struck the locked door, which rattled in its frame._

"_You sold us to the sorceress, Headmaster! Come face the music!"_

_He stood up, slowly, opening a drawer in his desk and removing a weapon he hadn't drawn in anger since the Sorceress War. A gunblade, as befitted a knight. It was a laughable anachronism, a crude, ugly thing with none of the smooth lines or twin blades which impressionable youths were so impressed by in newer models. It had been made during a war, when smiths wasted no time with frippery. The door rattled again, and Cid heard it crack. It couldn't hold against junctioned students for long. He moved to one side of the door and waited. _

_When the first student burst in, his challenge ended in an explosive scream of agony as Cid's blade buried itself in his thigh. Blood sprayed across the room as the student screamed, and his two companions looked from him to Cid in mute shock. They'd fallen prey to one of the two preconceptions so common among teenagers –contempt for their elders mingled with undeserved respect. Initially astounded that Cid, benign, genial Headmaster Cid, had just stabbed their companion, they instinctively obeyed the voice they'd been trained to follow as Cid barked "Move! Would you rather see me die or your friend live? Take him to the infirmary!"_

_And they were gone. Resealing the door, Cid slumped in his chair, staring at the blood on his hands._

NORG had made one error. The Garden Master was a shadowy, unknown figure to most of the students, as it was not widely advertised that he was a Shumi, while Cid was the figurehead they had been taught to obey. So, despite the fact that the Garden Master had valid reasons for his coup, a slim majority of students had backed the Headmaster. The faculty rallied to him however, and inevitably, casualties on both sides had occurred in the battle. NORG, a better creature than Cid could ever be, used monsters in his attack to spare his supporters their lives, while Cid had been forced to shield himself with human lives. And there had been deaths. Not many, thank Hyne, as Dr. Kadowoki was both completely impartial and very quick off the mark, but enough. Now Cid could truly be said to have murdered his children. Was he really more benevolent than Edea?

Trabia, the only Garden with no hand in the assassination attempts at all (unless you counted Tilmitt, who, though trained in Trabia, was a Balamb Seed), was devastated by the missiles, having no way of defending itself. Poor, innocent Trabia, had taken heavy casualties,while Galbadia was almost unscathed and Balamb untouched though divided. A sorry mess indeed. And all of it could be laid at his feet.

NORG was subsequently killed by the very assassination squad who caused all the difficulty. An ignoble end to a creature, who, despite everything, had been largely benevolent, if unable to control his emotions. So many problems just melted away-in doing so, the Seeds had cowed the other board members. Now, they feared Cid, and he had a free hand to do as he wished.

The students would forget the debacle that followed, but Cid would not.


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey, folks. Finally, here's the decision Cid made to dump the Garden on Squall (a seventeen year old rookie SeeD with no administrative experience and two failed missions under his belt)_

**Abdication**

He was tired. So tired. Years ago, he'd have been better able to take it, but what was happening now was just too much, too quickly. And the worst part was, _no one blamed him for anything!_ Even the faculty simply assumed their Master had gone insane. Part of that could be the influence of the GFs , but he hadn't seen any of the administrative or cafeteria staff suppressing hate filled stares as he passed, and he was very good at noticing things like that. NORG was now a hated malcontent, while Cid was revered, and in the case of the other board members, feared.

He could have handled their hate, but nothing was so hard to bear as their love. He couldn't take this any longer. But...who could he leave in charge? Xu? Quistis? No, because they would be _good_ at it, and the last thing Garden needed was a talented Headmaster/Mistress. Cid had spent the last two decades carefully cultivating little conflicts between Dollet, Timber, and Galbadia, keeping his Seeds blooming. But...he hadn't the heart to subject the world to more war. It had taken quite a beating over the last three decades. And now the world knew who the SeeDs were, and were _not _pleased with them. If Balamb Garden overstepped their boundaries, the entire world would rise against them (except Esthar, but not even Cid had managed to breach the sealed borders, and they would grant no sanctuary) and a coalition army of Galbadia, Dollet, and even the Trabian Seeds, would eradicate Balamb Garden down to the last Junior Classmen.

But, neither could he allow Balamb to just crumble. Edea was still out there, and he'd promised her he would have her killed if she ever tried to pull an Adel. He intended to keep that promise, but he had neither the strength of body or mind to do it himself.

Managing a Garden in the short term was not difficult. The faculty were genii to a Shumi. A recent project had involved a faculty member in the accounts department altering the machines to facilitate paying wages through holes in the fabric of spacetime. That was the kind of things Shumi did, unasked, unpaid and unthanked. But...the Garden needed someone to follow, someone to unify them and give them purpose.

Then...inspiration! Leonhart could lead, but only as long as he had an objective in front of him. Like Almasy, he had that odd, transitory charisma. People would follow him into hell...but once they came out the other side, they'd wonder 'Hang on...what the hell happened there?' He'd hold their loyalty as long as the sorceress loomed on the horizon, but afterward, Seed would shatter like glass as their fervour faded and the thought of practicality. It would shatter, but there'd still be a loyal core, a loyal core which would train and stay under the radar and not threaten until the next sorceress arose...and then, his buried Seeds would blossom.


End file.
